- Summer Wind
"Summer Wind" is a 1965 song, with music by
Henry Mayer and lyrics byJohnny Mercer . A cool, nostalgic tale of a fleeting romance, it is most known for a 1966 recording byFrank Sinatra that is informed by whatNPR called "a majestic sadness." It is largely forgotten that singer Wayne Newton had the first national chart hit (1965). [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3929906] The Sinatra version hit number one on Billboard's Easy Listening survey.By the 2000s, it was one of Sinatra's most-used recordings in various contexts, including a mid-2000s television ad campaign for
Mastercard andMajor League Baseball .Also in the 2000s it became a hit for crooner
Michael Bublé , recording an arrangement with long-time producer and collaboratorDavid Foster , who heralds it as one of the all time greatestjazz standard s ever written.In 1974, author
Johnny Mercer recorded the song for his album "My Huckleberry Friend ".It was featured on the film "
The Pope of Greenwich Village " and on the2003 film "Matchstick Men".In
2004 , Irishboyband Westlife covered the song on theirRat Pack -inspired album "Allow Us To Be Frank ".The song can also be found in the sixth season première episode of "
The Simpsons ", "Bart of Darkness ", sung byMartin Prince at the end of the show.On Friday
June 3 ,2005 it became the last song played by oldies radio stationWCBS-FM in New York before the station became Jack FM. When the station switched back to CBS-FM on Thursday,July 12 ,2007 , Jack FM's last song, "Don't Stop Believin' " by Journey was interrupted mid-song at 12:43pm EST, and what continued with CBS-FM's broadcast of Sinatra's rendition of "Summer Wind". [WCBSFM broadcast; July 12, 2007; 12:43pm]In 2006
James Dean Bradfield ofManic Street Preachers covered "Summer Wind" released as a b-side on theAn English Gentleman UKCD single .On
May 3 ,2006 "Summer Wind" was featured in the first episode of theBob Dylan radio program Theme Time Radio Hour.In April
2008 , "Summer Wind" was sung by 10 year old Charlie Green on ITV's show Britain's Got Talent receiving rave reviews from Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan, and securing him a place in the running to sing before British royalty in the Royal Variety Performance.It was the theme song for the 1984 film, "
The Pope of Greenwich Village ".References
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